Bad or thin place detector



T. CARTER.

BAD 0R THIN PLACE DETECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 5. 191a.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

17027746 Cal fer THOMAS CARTER, or BELTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.

BAD OR THIN PLACE DETECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 5, 1918. Serial No. 261,241.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, THOMAS CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belton, in the countyof Anderson and State of South Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bad or Thin Place Detectors, of which the following is a specification. f I I This invention relates to loom stopping mechanism, and particularly to means for detecting bad or thin spots in the fabric being woven and actuating the loom mechanism for stopping the loom when a bad or thin spot appears in the fabric. 7

One object of my invention is to provide a simple, reliable and efficient detector mechanism which is adapted for detecting imperfect portions of the fabric and stopping the loom, whether such imperfect portions are due to the absence of a filling thread orto breaks, knots or other irregularities in" the Warp threads, whereby a device adapted to serve both as a bad place and thin spot de tector is produced.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described embodying a continuous row of independently movable detector fingers or pins ex tending entirely across the fabric from edge to edge thereof,]whereby in theevent of the appearance of a'bad or thin spot at any point inthe width of the fabric the loom stopping mechanism will be actuated, said detector fingers or. pins being carried by and arranged to control a moving part common thereto through which motion is transmitted to the loom stopping mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is I to provide adeteetor mechanism which may be arranged in close proximity to the beat.-

ing-in'pointso as to arrestthe motion ofthe fabr c as soon asposslble after the appearance of a defect in-orderv to reduce as far as possible the amount of V cloth required to be picked or out out. r

A still further object of the invention is to provide a reliable and sensitive type of detector device which is not liable to get out of order and whieh may be employed in connection with looms having different styles of stop mechanism.

The invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement ,of parts, hereinafter fully described and mechanism' thereof.

Fig. 2is a detail section showing the en gagement of one of the swingingv frame arms with the fabric.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view 'of the detector device per se and showing its engagement with the fabric.

Figs. 4and 5 are detail views of different forms-of detector-fingers or pins which may be employed.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustratingl a ,modification in the construction of the tector mechanism.

F ig, 7 is aperspective View showinganother modification. 1

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the breast beam of a loom, 2 a portion of a cloth or fabric being wovenupon the loom, 3 the temples used upon looms ofsome types, 4 the arch of the loom, 5 the weft-hammer, and 6 the latch device associated therewith for coaction with I the arm or forktail 7 of the filling-fork '8 which cooperates in practice with the grid of the shuttle box, the parts 5', 6, 7 and 8 constituting elements of one well known form of loom-stopping mechanism. 7

g In carrying my invention into practice I provide a detector mechanismcomprising a rod or shaft 9'extending across the loom and over and beyond the edges of the fabric 2, said rod or shaft being journaled to rock or oscillate in bearings 10 in the free ends of a pair of vertically swinging armsll. The arms 11 extend at right angles to the shaft Sand parallel with the sides of. the loom and inth'e direction of motion' o-fgthe Patented Dec. 16, 1919. g

fabricyancl are provided at their'inner orfree ends -with rounded contact portions or lugs 12 which rest and ride easily upon the uppers urface of the fabric 2 and thus" support-the shaft9 in proper operative tion above the surface ofjthe fabric.

The opposite or. outer ends of the arms 11 'are pivotally mountechas indicated at 12, I x

or shaft 9, whereby said rod or shaft is permitted to have movement in a vertical plane for the contacting action and to maintain the detector fingers or pins in engage ment with the fabric. One end of theshaft 9 may terminate in proxii'nity to the temple 3 or edge of the cloth at one side of the loom, while the opposite end of the shaft is provided with an offset 13 to permit it to extend beyond the opposite temple 3 and to have vertical and oscillating m vemeuts without interfering therewith, the said ofiset end of the shaft terminating in a crank arm 1d. hen the shaft 9 is in its normal or elevated position, the arm 14 rests lightly upon the arm 7 of the filling-fork 8, or at such distance above the same as to permit said filling-fork to have its usual vibratory motion, the construction, however, being such that when the shaft 9 moves downward or is oscillated, the arm 14: in its arc of movement will engage and depress the arm 7 thus moving said arm 7 into engagement with the latch 6 and simultaneously shifting the filling-fork 8 for a loomstopping action- The'shaft 9 carries a row of spaced deteeter pins or fingers 15, which extend across the upper surface of the fabric from edge to edge thereof and are disposed in comparatively close relation to each. other. Each of these fingers or pins is slidable vertically in an opening 16 in the shaft, and is formed with a pointed lower end 1'? to engage the surface of the fabric, the upper end of the pin being provided with a head or enlargement 18 forming a stop to limit its downward movement. The pointed ends of the fingers or pins ride lightly in contact with the surface of the fabric and, when the fabric is-being woven in normal manner or without defects, are held elevated to a certain degree, as indicated in Fig. 1. hen, however, a bad place or thin spot appears in the surface of the fabric below or within the Zone of action of either pin, the said pin drops by gravity into the hole or bad spot in the fabric, thus posit ely connecting the fabric with the rock shaft. As the fabric continues to more. the pin engaged therewithwill accordingly act a crank element, which communicates turning motion to the rod or shaft 9, whereby the crank member 14. will be operated to depress the arm 7 and thus throw the loomstopping mechanism into action. The pins or fingers 15 may be provided with a corn paratively blunt fabric engaging end 17. illustrated in Figsl, 3 and 4%, for operation upon comparatively coarse fabrics or, as shown in-Fig. 5, the fingers or pins may be provided with comparatively long and 1 1e pointed ends 17 for'use in conjunEtion with closely woven fabrics.

It will be observed that as the detector fino'ers or pins extend in close order in a row entirely across the fabric, any defect occurring at any point in the width of the fabric will be detected and the mechanism actuated to immediately stop the loom. The device is therefore not only adapted for detecting thin spots caused by broken or missing filling threads, but is also primarily and importantly adapted for detecting bad places at any point in the width of the fabric from edge to edge thereof. As is well known, bad places frequently occur in the weave due to breaking or knotting of the warp threads or the presence of lint or other foreign particles causing an imperfect weave, and that such places are liable to occur along the se'lvage edges or at any other point in the width of the fabric in such a way and in such a position as to avoid detection of the same by the thin place detectors in common use. My invention accordingly provides a detector mechanism which fulfils all requirements with regard to detections of imperfections in the cloth, whether such imperfections are in the nature of had or thin placcsoccurring at any point in the width of the fabric.

Preferably the shaft 9is provided with a while at the same time protecting the pins and openings 16 from the access of dust, lint or other foreign particles liable to interfere with their operation. This hood or shield may be made of sheet metal or other suitable material.

I have above described the device as used in connection with one form of loom-stop ping mechanism in which theeleinents 5, 6, 7 and 8 form a part, which loom-stopping mechanism is of a type en'rployed on many styles of looms. The device may, ho .vever, be provided with an arm l9 for cooperation with a different style of loonnstopping mechanism, also used on many kindsof looms, said aria being coupled to one end of a flexible wire, cable or the like 20 which passes over a guide pulley'21 on the arch a and has its opposite end depending and connected with an element 22 of atype adapted for use in conjunction with a lomn -stopping mechanism; In the action of this type of stop mechanism, the upward and rearward movement of the arm 19 causes the element 22 to drop by gravity forthe loom-v stopping action, as will be readily under stood.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of my invention wherein the major portion of the ,dtector is so constructed and ar ranged as to'be PlilCQtl just a few picks beyond the point at whichthe filling is beaten. in, and-in this construction the rock shaft employed is of a divided type, comprising a main section 9 which is of a length slightly less than the distance between the temples 3, so as to be set inwardly of and in advance thereof, the space between each end of the main shaft section 9 and the adjacent edge of the fabric being covered by a short crank shaft section 9 one of which short crank shaft sections is shown in Fig.

-6, with which crank shaft section 9 the crank member 1 1 is associated and preferably made an integral part thereof. The crank shaft sections 9 and 9 are provided with detector finger or pins of the character above described, and upon the adjacent ends of said crank shaft sections are crank arms 20 and 21 coupled by a link 22, whereby said crank shaft sections are rocked or oscillated in unison. It will thus be understood that the detector pins carried by the main shaft section 9 will set close enough to the beating-in point to cover the major portion of the fabric and to permit of the detection of a bad or thin place at the earliest possible time to arrest the motion of the loom to diminish the extent to which the fabric must be turned back and the amount required to be picked or cut out, any imperfections which occur in the marginal portions of the fabric being detected by the pins upon the shaft sections 9", whereby motion under such conditions may be transmitted to the loom-stopping mechanism.

It will be evident, from the foregoing description, that great sensitiveness of action of the device is secured, for the detection of bad or thin places in the fabric, owing to the fact that the pins or fingers 15 are slidably mounted for independent vertical motion, so that any pin on encountering a bad or thin spot may drop instantly and engage the fabric to immediately transmit motion to the shaft for a loom-stopping action. Also it will be evident that by the use of detector fingers or pins of the character described a very large number of such detecting elements may be employed in close compass to effect the detection of even the smallest bad places occurring in the woven fabric.

In Fig. 7 I have shown another slight modification in which auxiliary means is provided, between the bad place detector and the beating-in point, for detecting thin spots in the fabric. As shown, one of the arms 11 is provided with a forward extension 11 in which is provided an auxiliary rock shaft 9 carrying detector pins 15 of the character hereinbefore described. This rock shaft 9 is thereby arranged in advance of the shaft 9 so that the'pins 15 carried by said shaft 9 will engage one of the margins of the fabric close to the beating-in point, so that any thin spot may be detected immediately upon its appearance in the fabric to reduce the amount of threads required to be picked out. An arm 19 on the shaft 9 is provided for connection with the control cord or wire 20, so that the rotation of the shaft 19 when a thin spot is detected will result in the operation of the loom-stopping element 22. A link 22 also connects crank arms 20' and 21 on the shafts 9 and 9 whereby the shaft 9 may also, through the shaft 9", actuate the stop-cord 20. The shaft .9 and its parts act, in this construction, as a bad place detector for detecting a bad place at any point in the width of the fabric, and also as a secondary thin place detector operative for the purpose in case any thin place should, for any reason, not be detected by the primary detector formed by the shaft 9 and its pins 15. This construction furthermore obviously allows the thin place detector to be placed close to the beating-in point on looms employing temples in rear of which the shaft 9 and it parts must be placed. IVhile one form of stop mechanism is shown with this construction, it is obvious that either .of the forms of stop mechanism disclosed may be employed.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. In a bad or thin place detector, a series of independently movable fabric engaging devices, a'normally stationary motion transmitting member upon which said devices are mounted for independent detecting movement and which is adapted to be set into motion by detecting engagement of any of said devices with an imperfect portion of the fabric, and loom-stopping means controlled by said member and actuable upon the movement thereof.

2. In a bad or thin place detector, a swinging frame mounted upon the loom and having portions for contact with the surface of the fabric, a motion transmitting member carried by and movably mounted upon the swinging frame, a series of independently movable detecting devices extending across the fabric and carried by said motion transmitting member, and loom-stopping means controlled by said member.

3. In a bad or thin place detector, a vertically movable frame pivotally mounted upon the loom and having supporting portions to ride in contact with the surface of the fabric, a motion transmitting member carried by said frame, a serles of independently movable detectmg devices extendmg across .the fabric and arranged .to contact therethe supporting action of said supporting portions of the vertically movable frame,- and loom -stopp1ng"mechanism controlled by the motion transmitting member and actuable upon the movement thereof.

4. In a bad or thin place detector, a fab ric actuated motion transmitting member movably mounted upon the loom to extend over and across the fabric, a series of independently movable gravity actuated detecting devices mounted upon said motion transmitting member, each adapted when contacting with an imperfect portion of the fabric to connect said motion transmitting member for motion therewith, and means actuated by said motion transmitting member when moved by the fabric for stopping the loom. I

5. In a bad or thin place detector, a rock shaft journaled upon the loom to extend transversely over the fabric, said shaft being provided with guides, a series of vertically slidable detector pins carried by said shaft, said pins being slidable in said guides, and loom-stopping mechanism actuated by the shaft.

6. In a bad or thin place detector, a rock shaft journals-d upon the loom and arranged to extend over and across the fabric, a row or series of detector pins slidably mounted upon said shaft, and means actuated upon connection of the shaft with the fabric by any of said pins and through the rocking motion of said shaft for transmitting motion to a loom-stopping mechanism.

7. In a bad or thin place detector, the combination of a vertically swinging frame mounted upon the loom and having portions to ride in contact with the surface of th fabric, a rock shaft journaled on said frame, a continuous row or series of detector pins extending across the fabric and slidabl mounted in said shaft, and means opera le by the shaft for actuating a loomstopping mechanism.

8. In a bad or thin place detector, a rock shaft journaled upon the loom and arranged to extend over and across the fabric, a series of vertically slidable detector pins carried by said shaft for independently detecting motion, and means actuable by the shaft for stopping the loom.

9. In a bad or thin place detector, a rock shaft journaled upon the loom to extend transversely above the surface of the fabric, a series of vertically slidable pins mounted upon said shaft and having headed upper ends and pointed lower ends, a shield mounted upon the shaft to inclose and cover the headed ends of the pins, and means ac tuable' by the shaft for stopping the loom.

10. In a bad or thin lace detector, a rock shaft journaled upon the loom and arranged to extend transversely above the fabric, a series of vertically slidable detector pins mounted upon the shaft, a shield carried by the shaft to inelose and house the upper ends of said pins, and means operable by the shaft for stopping the loom.

11. In a bad or thin place detector, a vertically swinging frame mounted upon the loom and having portions to rest upon the surface of the fabric, a rock shaft journaled upon said frame, a series of vertically slidable detector pins carried by the shaft, a guard or shield upon the shaft to inclose and house the upper ends of the ins, and means operable by the shaft for stopping the loom.

12. In a bad or thin place detector, a rock shaft comprising a main section and inde pendent end sections, said shaft sections being journaled upon the loom frame to extend transversely across the fabric, connecting means between said rock shaft sections, detector pins carried by the rock shaft sections to engage the surface of the fabric and communicate motion to the rock shaft sections when a thin or bad spot in the fabric is detected, and means actuable by the motion of any of said rock shaft sections for operating a loom-stopping mechanism.

13. In a detector mechanism for looms, rows of detecting devices, the said rows being arranged one in advance of the other, and loom-stopping means operable thereby.

14: In a detector mechanism for looms, separate detecting devices arranged one in front of the other, connecting means between said devices whereby one will be influenced by movement of the other for a loom-stopping action, and a loom-stopping mechanism associated with said devices.

15. In a detector mechanism for looms, separate detector devices arranged one in front of the. other and each including a rock shaft, connecting means between said shafts whereby a rocking motion of one will correspondingly rock the other, and loom-stopping means actuated by at least one of said shafts.

16. In a detector mechanism for looms, rock shafts arranged inspaced relation, pins carried by each shaft to engage with the fabric passing through the loom and to enter thin spots therein, means connecting said shafts whereby rocking movement of one will be imparted to the other, and means whereby the rocking movement of one of the shafts may be utilized to operate a loom stopping mechanism.

17. In a bad. or thin place detector, a mo- 115 tion transmitting member extending over and across the fabric, a row or series of detector devices carried by said member and each slidably movable in a plane perpendicularly to the plane of travel of the fabric, 120 and loom stopping mechanism actuable by said motion transmitting member.

18. In a bad or thin place detector, a mot'ion transmitting member extending over and across the fabric, a row or series of de- 125 tector pins carried by said member and each slidable thereon in a plane perpendicularly to the plane of travel of the fabric, and loom stopping mechanism actuable by said 1110- tion transmitting member.

19. In a bad or thin place detector, a series of Vertically slidable gravity dropping detectors, a motion transmit-ting member carrying said detectors and adapted by engagement of any of said detectors with an imperfect portion of the fabric to be connected With the fabric for movement there by, means sustained by the fabric for supporting the aforesaid element at such an elevation as to normally hold the detectors lightly in engagement With the surface of the fabric, and a 100m stopping mechanism actuable by the motion transmitting member upon the movement of said member by the fabric.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS CARTER. 

